Abuja And Chinedu Eze — Air transport workers under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees have threatened to make good their decision to close down all the country's airport facilities by Thursday next week should the management of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) fail to implement agreements reached with the union.

The threat of industrial action came just as the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) issued a nine-point weather related warnings to pilots and airline operators in the country.

Flight operations at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was momentarily brought to a halt in the early hours of yesteday due to bad weather

In the light of current rainfalls in parts of the country, NCAA said in Lagos that since the onset of the raining season is usually accompanied with severe thunderstorm, there was need to place pilots and airline operators on alert on the dangers associated with it.

Yesterday morning, airlines such as Virgin Nigeria Airways made an air return to Lagos from Abuja after its aircraft could not land due to bad weather.

NCAA, said that this time the current rainstorm has microburst and hail unlike in the previous years.

Director General of NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren said the hazards posed to flights by the thunderstorm lies in the fact that phenomena such as severe turbulence, microburst, hail and very heavy rain may be concentrated for a limited period.

Demuren said the circular is to place professionals on alert, as it contains detail of the dangers of thunderstorm as well as offer guidelines to assist in preventing accidents caused by thunderstorms.